


I know the way

by i_am_a_hog



Category: The Terror (TV 2018)
Genre: Francis has dad energy so he makes dad decisions and does dad things like say, M/M, Oh I Know A Shortcut For Sure, Tumblr Prompt, john mulaney voice AND THEN HE DIDN'T
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:35:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26393494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_am_a_hog/pseuds/i_am_a_hog
Summary: Tumblr prompt "I told you not to go that way but you didn’t listen."The squad is on a work trip in the alps. Bets are made and old men are stubborn.
Relationships: Captain Francis Crozier/Commander James Fitzjames
Comments: 3
Kudos: 25





	I know the way

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. uh. I hate everything I'm making rn so I didn't read thru it again; hope you don't mind.

James’ feet were hurting, but he wasn’t going to let it show, he took one step after the other, barely focussing on his surroundings, just Francis in front of him and the path beneath his hiking boots. It was nearing 5 pm and it was getting dark; November brought with it a biting cold and whoever came up with this trip to the Austrian alps clearly had never been hiking with Francis.

James made a mental note to ask John upon their return to the hotel. If they ever returned. Francis seemed to know where he was going, but with every minute that passed, James was less sure he could trust the man. James was clearly too gay for his own good… the others were likely back at the hotel with a nice cup of tea in their hands and waiting for the two of them to come back so they could ridicule James for his mistakes.

Of course it had been a mistake to go with Francis, James should have seen it the second nobody else chose to go with him. At their lunch point, John and Francis had gotten into one of their debates and neither of them wanted to give in, which ended in a bet about who could make it back to the hotel sooner.

James, should have listened to his friends and not his dick… or heart, if you asked Dundy. Ever since James and Francis had gotten over their mutual dislike and petty fights, James had gradually realised that he had a gigantic crush on his coworker, which resulted in the current situation: James couldn’t feel his toes, fingertips and nose, trudging on towards an unknown destination behind a grumpy but unrelentless Francis Crozier, who seemed to have the endurance of a 20 year-old.

When Francis stopped abruptly, James nearly bumped into him and lost his balance trying to step aside. Only Francis’ firm hand at his arm stopped him from toppling over.

“You ok?”

James steadied himself. “Yeah. Fine.”

Francis looked at him sceptically, but didn’t comment on it any further.

“I hate to say it, but are you sure –“

“Yes, I’m bloody sure that this is the right way.”

James sighed. He would love to contradict Francis but he had no basis for anything he might say, other than that the past couple hours felt like too long a time spent on a hike, whose halfway point they had supposedly reached after 2 comfortable hours of walking. His phone had run out of power shortly after they last saw John’s group and Francis wouldn’t let James use his phone to look up Google Maps.

“Then why did you stop?”

“Need a drink,” Francis said and took out a bottle of water from the side of his backpack. After a couple of gulps, he offered it to James. He accepted the offer and put the bottle back into Francis’ bag.

They started walking again, James behind Francis, one foot in front of the other and James fell back into his trance, trying not to panic at the thought of being stuck out here in the cold for god knows how long. It only felt like a few minutes before Francis stopped again.

“Ha!”

“What?”

“This way to the hotel,” Francis said, pointing at a sign.

James followed his gaze. Blinked. Raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

“Francis?”

He looked back at the man, but Francis didn’t meet his eyes.

James giggled. He didn’t know what else to do in the moment. It was all too absurd.

“Two hours? Where are we?”

Francis didn’t answer, but the guilty expression on his face told James the whole story.

“You don’t know.” He couldn’t keep the laughter down.

“Goddamnit, stop giggling like a child,” Francis snapped, but there was no bite behind his words.

James took a deep breath and threw up his arms in defense.

“It’s funny, Francis. You have to admit that. And it feels good to be right.”

“About what?” Francis asked in a tone that suggested that he was not interested. His eyes on James, the way he looked at him, had been looking at him for months when he thought James wouldn’t notice, disproved his façade.

“I told you not to go that way but you didn’t listen.”

Francis snorted in disbelief and turned away.

“What? It’s true!”

“Shut up and walk, James. We have two hours to go.”

And just like that he proceeded to follow the path into the misty dusk, leaving James to follow him without glancing back.

* * *

“I’m cold.”

“What?”

James was just as surprised at his own words as Francis. They had been at the tip of his tongue for the past several minutes now, but he had no plans to actually utter them.

“I’m cold,” he repeated hesitantly.

Francis barely turned around, concentrated on the descending path, but after a couple of moments, he answered.

“How can you be cold? We’re walking, that should be keeping you warm.”

“I don’t know,” James replied.

“And what am I supposed to do about it?”

James wasn’t sure if it was the cold, the exhaustion, the months of silent pining or something else entirely, that made him say it, but looking back he wasn’t sure it mattered at all.

“I’m sure you can think of something.”

Francis stopped dead in his tracks, leaving James stumbling against him. They both lost their balance this time, sliding down the path a couple of metres before coming to a halt against a boulder, their limbs uncomfortably entangled. Francis tried to pull back, but his forearm was trapped under James’ back. He froze, lying on top of James, panting, eyes wide in shock.

James felt dizzy. Maybe it was the fall, maybe it was Francis on top of him, but without a second thought, he closed the distance between them and pressed his icy lips against Francis’.

A startled noise escaped Francis and for a second, James doubted everything; the looks Francis had been giving him, the almost flirty remarks, the way his touches sometimes lingered. A hot wave of embarrassment washed over James, but then Francis kissed him back. His lips were surprisingly warm, soft, insistent and James could feel himself melting into Francis’ touch as he brought up a hand to James’ neck.

“James,” Francis mumbled against his lips, but James erased his next words with another kiss.

“James. We need to go, it’s getting dark and as much as I like lying in the dirt with you, we have a hotel to return to and a bet to win.”

James chortled at that.

“You really think you’re still gonna win that?”

Francis scoffed and raised an eyebrow as he yanked his arm free from underneath James, got up and held out his hand to help James up.

They continued to walk.

After a couple of minutes, Francis took James’ hand and James didn’t have to complain about being cold again.

* * *

They made it to the hotel in less than two hours, not by much, but Francis pointed it out anyway. The lobby was surprisingly quiet; James would have suspected the rest of their group to be there, jeering and laughing at the two of them. Only at a second glance, James noticed two familiar figures in the lounge area.

Silna sat curled against Harry, both with a book in hand. They looked like they had been there for hours, which meant that John’s group was already back and Francis had indeed lost the bet.

Francis seemed to figure out the same thing because he shot James a look and made his way over to the couple.

Harry looked up from his book and for a moment, it seemed like he wanted to get up, but then remembered Silna was leaning against him.

James and Francis sat down on the neighbouring sofa.

“How long have you been back?” James asked, well aware that Francis was only rummaging in his backpack so he didn’t have to ask himself.

“Since four,” Harry replied.

“The others…?” James started. Silna closed her book and grinned.

Harry blushed slightly before answering.

“Not back yet. We left them, because Silna was sure she actually knew the shortest route back.”

Francis was looking up now, his eyebrows nearly at his hairline.

“So we won?” He tried to sound gruff, but James heard the pure glee in his voice. “Of course, I knew we would…”

“Of course,” James said. Something in his tone seemed to let Silna listen up, because she looked at him pointedly before wiggling her eyebrows and returning to read her book, leaving James to blush.

* * *

Half an hour and a hot shower later, James found himself knocking on Francis’ door. He had been invited to dinner and even though he was beyond nervous, he wasn’t going to pass that up. Francis opened the door, dressed in a shirt and slacks, unlike James, who had put on jeans and a comfortable sweater. He took a moment before stepping aside to let James step inside, but once he closed the door behind them, a smile spread on his face that made James’ nerves evaporate.

And so did the hand on James’ waist and a soft kiss.

“I’m glad you’re here.”

**Author's Note:**

> The others arrived back in the middle of their date. They're all safe, but sadly, Sir John fell down a hole and slowed all of them down considerably, after.
> 
> Sorry if this is shit lol, I just wanted to write again 2 days ago and today I'm hating it but oh well :))


End file.
